FM 2014 TACTIC: TIKI TAKA

Finally I can begin writing about tactics, first up the tici taca wich is my favourite. Lets begin:

The idea:

Possession, possession and guess what...POSSESSION. Tiki taka is all about possession, but to say you want the possession (meaning having control of the ball) is one thing, to achive it is something else. The idea is that the roles are very free, the players support the ball holder at all times so that he can pass with ease and without risk. The key is to pass in triangles it outpasses the opossition, and the opposition needs to hunt for the ball but will fail to retain it in theory because there are so good passing options.

Eventually the opposition will make a misstake and that is when you hit them. To pass until they make a mistake and then you go for goal that is the attacking idea of my tiki taka tactic.To support this passing ther need to alway be two player available to pass to with ease, to ensure that you need a lot of players involverd in an attack. Therefor you have a very high defense with wing backs comfortable with attacking and three defender very high up in the field means they are always ready to support in case you're player need to pass back but not nececerally fancy a pass too far back.

But how do you defend? The basic idea in defending is If we have the ball, no matter what we do with it at least they can't score and this is fundamental. Keep the ball and they'll find it hard to score but how do we regain the possession, eventually no matter how good you are with passing you will lose the possession now and then.What you do is to have a very high pressure and hassle the opposition players and defen aggressivly, in real world there is a thumb rule called the 3-second rule wich means the defender can only have three seconds with the ball before someone pressure him. In football manager you can't apply the 3-second rule but don't worry. By playing with a high defensive line, hassle defenders, play aggressivly and have tight marking will give them very little time with the ball, that is when they do mistakes and lose the ball, and when they lose the ball they need to hunt for the ball again all over. Besides a high defensive line means you can easily use offside as a powerfull weapon, the opposition almoast needs to start their attack from their half!

In the picture you see my team using tiki taka tactic (Orange jerseys) Jon Flanagan has the ball and look at his passing options, but furthermore look no matter which one of them he'll pass they'll also have great passing options. Also look at the defensive line, they are so high up the field. Here offside is a key element of defending!

Team instruction:

To realise this tactic in fm I use a 5-2-3 tactic but especially in tiki taka the numbers are very missleading. 3 defenders in the back, two offensive wing backs, two central midfielders, two inner forward and a striker. To get this triangle passing play as I described above I use "very fluid" and obviously "control" (after all that's what possession football is all about). The look for overlap is like an instruction just made for this tactic with wingbacks high up the field and inner forwards.

Player instruction:

• Goalkeeper:
  Sweeper Keeper - support
  Instr. Distribute to defenders, pass it shorter
  First of all, with a high defensive line sweeper keeper is a must. Remember originality is important here, Usually you want a sane goalkeeper but yes this time a crazy goalie is exactly what you need
• Central defender right:
  Central defender - defend
  Instr. Close down more, tackle harder
• Central defender:
  Ball playing defender - cover
  Instr. Close down more, mark tighter, hold position, tackle harder
  This defender is not the classic central defender, this defender needs to have some attacking skills aswell for example passing and crativity is important.
• Central defender left:
  Central defender - Stopper
  Instr. Close down more, tackle harder
• Wing back right
  Complete wing back - Attack
  Instr. Run wide with ball, close down more, cross more often, mark tighter
• Wing back left
  Complete wing back - Attack
  Instr. Run wide with ball, close down more, cross more often, mark tighter
• Midfielder Central rightDeep lying playmaker - support
  Instr. Close down more, Tackle harder, Mark tighter, Roam from position
• Midfielder central left
  Advanced playmaker - Attack
  Instr. Pass it shorter, Fewer risky passes, Mark tighter, Close down more, Roam from position
• Attacking mifielder right
  Inside forward - Attack
  Instr. Pass it shorter, Dribble less, Mark tighter, Get further forward, Shoot more
  REMEMBER, make sure that the player playing in this position is LEFT FOOTED or BOTH (Either)
• Attacking mifielder left
  Inside forward - Attack
  Instr. Pass it shorter, Dribble less, Mark tighter, Get further forward, Shoot more
  REMEMBER, make sure that the player playing in this position is RIGHT FOOTED or BOTH (Either)
• Striker central
  Trequarterista - Attack
  Instr. Pass it shorter, Mark tighter
  Be sure youre striker is any good as a trequarterista, this position needs to function more than any other position with this tactic

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Feel free to comment, do you fancy it another way? or do you simply want to acknowledge this beautilful tactic? ;-P you can always comment anonymous ;-)